Signal Loss: What to Do When Your Client Disconnects Mid-Session

It's the middle of the afternoon.

You're sitting across from a client who is doing "everything right." They're talking, they're processing, they're checking all the boxes.

And then, without warning, the "signal" drops.

It's like someone unplugged the Wi-Fi of the human soul. The room feels heavy. You find yourself suddenly, inexplicably exhausted... the kind of tired that feels like lead in your eyelids.

Most of us call this "fatigue" and try to power through it.

You think that by "working harder" and leaning in, you're being a better clinician. But here is what I've come to understand: That leaden tiredness is Somatic Data.

It's the broadcast of a "young" Emotional Part that has just stepped into the room. It's a part that has no words, no folders, and no hope. And it is pulling the energy out of the room because it doesn't think it's safe to be "seen."

If you keep "doing EMDR" when the signal is dead, you aren't reading the room. You're waving your fingers at a shell while the actual wound is hiding in the basement, terrified of the light.

Every minute you spend "staying with it" in a dead room is a minute you are teaching that client's nervous system that you don't actually see them.

This week, I'm showing my cohort how to read the "Signal Loss." I'm showing them how to use their own body as a compass to find the "Baby in the Basement" before the session turns into a total washout. If this might be something you’ve been wanting to grow in, this might be of interest to you.

I'd love to have you with us.

Warmly,

Esther